2024

VIII Estonian-Latvian History Conference:       Cultural Heritage of the Historical Livonia

Background of the Conference

Valga/Valka has been in the geographical middle of the Livonian Governorate for most of the last 800 years and even more. Already in the Middle Ages, when Valga did not yet have city rights, diets or land and city days were held here, where local lords (bailiffs, bishops, etc.) discussed their important issues. From the Swedish era after the Livonian War in the second half of the 16th century, the Livonian Governorate was officially formed, which consisted of the modern times Southern and Central Estonia and Northern Latvia. In the southern part of the Livonian Governorate, wars between Poland and Sweden continued after the Livonian War. The areas of Southern Estonia and Northern Latvia remained under Polish rule for some time. Thus, the city of Valga received its city rights from the Polish king Stefan Batory. Therefore, this year the city of Valga/Valka celebrated 440 years from receiving city rights. We will also commemorate this event at this year's conference. Since Valga is so connected with Livonia, we dedicate this year's conference to the connections of the city of Valga with Livonia. Since the concept of Livonia is derived from the Livonian people who lived in the areas of Estonia and Latvia, we will also talk about the Livonians at the conference, including the influences of the Livonian language and culture in Estonia and Latvia. However, historically, Livonians did not directly live in the Valga/Valka area.

The 2024 scientific conference also set a new record for the number of participants. The number of registered participants in the conference was 164.

Conference materials are avalable in the Estonian version of the museum website.